Water Research

Although three-fourths of the Earth is covered by water, less than
one percent of all water is available for human use. This scant one
percent is found in our lakes, rivers, and aquifers and, as population
grows and weather becomes more variable, fresh water is becoming
increasingly scarce.

In Illinois, water supplies are unlikely to disappear in the near
future, but projections by the Illinois State Water Survey show that
water supplies will be unable to keep up with population growth in urban
areas. Extracting fresh water from surface and subsurface sources will
become more difficult and more costly as our demand for water grows. If
municipalities do not look at alternative water resources and implement
stronger conservation measures, there could be significant shortages in
the region, impacting human use as well as aquatic systems.

This makes research into reducing water consumption in Illinois
more important than ever. Preserving the water supply will result in
obvious benefits for human and wildlife populations, but innovative
conservation techniques will also provide the added incentive of
significant cost savings. In addition to examining ways to reduce water
consumption, ISTC researchers are investigating novel reuse of
wastewater in the industrial and business sectors and they are
investigating water quality issues in the industrial, business, and
residential sectors.